How to sign a PDF in Dropbox

Sign a PDF yourself on dropbox.com

1. 1

   Open the preview

   Sign in at dropbox.com and click the PDF's name to open its preview.

2. 2

   Switch to editing

   Click Edit above the preview, then click Sign.

3. 3

   Create your signature

   Draw it with a mouse or trackpad, type your name and pick a font, or click Upload to use an image of your signature (PNG, JPG, BMP or GIF).

4. 4

   Insert and save

   Click Insert, drag the signature onto the line and resize it. Dropbox saves the edited PDF as a new file; people who can see the original won't see your signature on it.

Dropbox's online editor only opens PDFs under its size limit that aren't password protected. If Edit is grayed out, check both.

In the Dropbox mobile app

Open the PDF's preview, tap Edit/Sign (or the signature icon on iPhone), choose Only you, then Add signature. If you haven't saved one yet, draw it under Sign your name. Dropbox adds it to the page as an image you can move and resize.

Ask someone else to sign from Dropbox

On dropbox.com, click New, hover over Sign and select Get signatures. Choose the file, enter each signer's name and email, place the fields, click Send..., add a message and pick where the signed copy should be saved. Dropbox says every customer can send three free signature requests a month; more depends on a paid Dropbox Sign or Dropbox business plan. The mobile app sends to one signer at a time.

When you need more than that

• You send contracts every week, so a monthly cap on free requests runs out fast.
• The signer is right in front of you and should sign on your phone or tablet now, not from an email later.
• You send the same agreement to a list of customers or tenants and don't want to set up each one by hand.

Use SignMaster with files you keep in Dropbox

SignMaster doesn't connect to Dropbox directly. Download the PDF from Dropbox, send it from SignMaster, then save the signed copy back to your Dropbox folder. Each send is an envelope: one or more documents going to one or more signers.

1. 1

   Download the PDF

   In Dropbox, open the file's menu and download it to your computer or phone.

2. 2

   Create the envelope

   Click New envelope, upload the PDF, add each signer by name and email, and set the order. Click Add me to sign it yourself.

3. 3

   Place fields and send

   Add signature, initials, date signed and text fields for each signer, set reminders, and send. Paid plans have no envelope limit; Free covers 3 envelopes a month.

4. 4

   Put the signed copy back

   The signed PDF arrives by email with its certificate of completion. Drop it into the client's folder in Dropbox, or download it any time from the envelope.

On Crew and Company, webhooks can do the filing for you. The envelope.completed event carries a link to the signed PDF, and a tool such as Zapier, through its Webhooks by Zapier Catch Hook trigger, can pass that file to a Dropbox upload step.